Manatee school board approves leadership changes

Monday

Apr 8, 2013 at 11:04 PM

By KATY BERGENkaty.bergen@heraldtribune.com

With a community calling for change and the school district in the midst of a State Attorney's investigation of several school employees, the Manatee School Board gave new superintendent Rick Mills the green light Monday to change top leadership in the district, signaling to some that restructuring will likely continue.

The board approved a revamp of Mills' top personnel and voted to eliminate two assistant superintendent positions for two new "upgraded" deputy superintendent positions that Mills has said he hopes will attract qualified candidates from across the country.

Mills also announced Monday that Assistant Superintendent Scott Martin had agreed to transition into a staff attorney position, which he held before his assistant superintendent tenure began in 2011.

The board also took steps to end an era of their own in-house legal department, unanimously deciding to issue a Request for Proposals for a school board attorney in light of current attorney John Bowen's June retirement.

Mills' restructure pushes out two administrators who have been connected to a recent police investigation of groping allegations made against Manatee High assistant football coach Rod Frazier: Assistant Superintendent Bob Gagnon, implicated by law enforcement in the Frazier investigation for non-reporting and lying to police and Martin, who briefly investigated the case before police intervened.

Mills has also called for the creation of three new directors of schools positions, closing two director positions currently headed by Director of Secondary Schools Jim Pauley and Director of Elementary Schools Joe Stokes. He has invited all displaced administrators to reapply for their jobs.

Mills said he was confident his structure would provide more support for schools by providing support to operations but allowing all departments to focus on academics.

"I have seen that work successfully," Mills said. "We can drive greater student achievement outcomes."

Mills said the changes will cost the district an additional $140,000, a decision he said was worth it because it made the positions attractive to a national talent pool.

The new deputy superintendents will be offered a $132,500 salary. The other salaries have not yet been determined.

Mills promised other changes Monday, alluding to future district staff reductions and position changes that he said would cut costs by up to 10 percent and offset the salary increases.

Also on Monday, as board members approved responsibilities for open job positions, they also approved policies that would address discrepancies in who is hired in the district.

Nepotism and fraternization policies passed unanimously Monday, prohibiting relatives and romantically linked individuals from supervising, hiring or promoting each other and requiring those who enter into relationships to report them to management within 48 hours.

"This does not prohibit relatives from working in the district," said Martin, who wrote the policies. "It tries to establish that they don't influence one each other."

Before passing both policies unanimously, board member Bob Gause expressed tentative concern that the board might create an issue that could get blown out of proportion, inviting scrutiny on employee's personal relationships.

Mills had a response — a measure used in the military for when relationships in an organization warrants intervention.

"When it impacts," he said, "the good order, discipline and morale of the organization."